Just a little patience…

The wind was supposed to be above 10 knots for a brief period late in the afternoon. That was according to both iWindsurf.com and windy.com. It actually looked like foiling wind had already arrived when we arrived at the Launch Pad around 3pm.

A lovely little sailboat which I used for my 2nd session of the day

I headed out on the the 7m Duotone Slick wing with the Fanatic Sky 125l foilboard. Pumped onto the foil right after leaving the dock and felt like a hero on my first run. And then nothing. Just slogging upwind and realizing 9 knots isn’t enough.

I can slog upwind on the foil!
(Note the wind direction at the Sudbury airport isn’t the afternoon
SouthWest convection wind we get on Georgian Bay)

One foiling run

Out slogging

So I headed back and helped set up Phillip’s lovely 198? invitation sailboat. What a great little boat. I went for a sail through the shoals in the 8 knot winds.

Sailing through the shoals

Nice steady 5 knots in the sailboat

After a bit of charity paperwork on my iPad it was time to see if the wind was really going to build as predicted. I slogged back and forth and pumped onto the foil several times. But no sustained runs. Then, of course just as I was thinking about calling it a day, the wind picked up just a little…

Just a little patience. I started foiling and singing the Guns and Roses song in my head. Over and over. I started wondering if my buddy from San Carlos - Jet from Texas has started foiling. I see his posts about GnR - but not about windsurfing lately. I’ll send him this blog post… hope he’s started foiling and getting more sessions in low wind like I am!

The best part of the day - foiling upwind!

And making jibes during the 2nd part of the session!

After 5 km of foiling with around a dozen smooth foiling jibes I finally fell and had a hard time getting going again. I thought that the wind had built a ton, but it turned out if you don’t fall off the foil, you just don’t need that much wind to change directions and stay on the foil!

I did two fairly decent tack attempts during the session; the best I’ve ever tried. With one tack actually being on the foil until I switched hands. With the water warming up to 17c now, and my nice 4/3 suit on I didn’t even mind falling in. I’ll be trying more foiling tacks in the over the next month or two.

It is handy that iWindsurf uses my station for wind reports!

The wind that was just under 10 knots around 3pm wasn’t enough. And at 5pm it wasn’t quite enough either. But with a little patience, it jumped to 12 knots just before 6pm and I got my nice session!

The water is still amazingly clear. So much north wind in the last two months. Yesterday the smoke from the Quebec fires was intense. That changed today with the SW wind, and the pollen made for an interesting water pattern.

Pollen on the water - not smoke!

We took “The Ride Home” so we could be back south for 2 days - but hoping to do some windsurf lessons on the long weekend.

The Ride Home!

First time foiling in the harbour

Arriving at the cottage to a smoky north wind, I decided to try foiling in “Cleveland Bay” of Key Harbour. Normally I head out to the Bay for more consistent wind at the Launch Pad, but I wanted to see how it might work in front of the cottage before the weeds get too dense.

Post session smile!

I pumped up the 5.0 Duotone Slick with my new long Duotone pump. Wow, what a difference the long shaft pump makes, for a guy with a bad back! Thanks for the suggestion Steve @Boardsports.

The long shaft pump is awesome!

I put the newish foil on the Fanatic Sky 125l board and put on my 2 mil long leg wetsuit. The water was 24c, the air 16c (not 12.8c like it says on the GPS trail).

GPS trail in Cleveland Bay, Key Harbour
I think there are 2 or 3 foiling jibes in there?

I did get on the foil several times - lots of slogging too

Bill and Chris were out on their dock on the north shore and the lulls in the wind meant we could actually communicate with each other a bit. 

The wind was up and down while I was out…

Overall 4.5 km in 47 minutes. I didn’t fall in for the first 30 mins, so I’m definitely getting used to the 125l board - and the float provided by the Slick 5.0’s centre strut sure helps for balancing too. 

Well worth heading out, and nice to have the sauna on when I got back! I’ll try it again next spring when there are even fewer weeds. Might be a good idea for me to mark the two shoals that could be in play too especially if the water level gets lower.

Maybe 10 knots is enough?

So I tried the new (last year) Fanatic foil under the old Fanatic Stingray 140. It worked really well getting going in light winds but I didn’t make many jibes. I was recalling how much harder that board was to get up on the foil with the Slingshot 99 - even with the 7m wing. I think I’ll need to commit to exclusively using the new foil soon.

Returning photo - thanks Jen

Hitting 12.5 knots - a bit faster than the 99cm foil…
only a few good jibes…

I slowly made some upwind ground
when I got a gust and pumped onto the foil

A highlight of the session was seeing Scott out on his Dart sailboat for the last time. Sadly we said goodbye later in the afternoon. And it was fun seeing Katie and the Coast Guard doing their drills right where I was foiling.

10 knots gusting to 12 worked!

At one point in the session I saw a shoal I’ve never seen before - right in the middle of the harbour. I stopped to check it out - over 2 meters under water so not a danger at all - I’ve just never seen the water this clear.

Nice to see the turtle in the clearest water I’ve ever seen.

Back at it

48 hours ago I threw my back out. Sitting in a chair trying to pull something apart while bent over holding it with my feet. Doh. Two nights with Robax and some yoga this morning and it was possible to walk and bend over a bit without wincing.

Luckily it wasn’t windy yesterday and the day before but today the warm north wind shifted to west and suddenly it picked up. The wind beckoned. I headed out to the Launch Pad and pumped up the 7m Duotone Slick wing - using an old air mattress pump I’ve repurposed so I only have to do the last bit myself. 

At 9-11 knots I wasn’t sure it would work but needed to try. Putting on my 3/2 wetsuit without tweaking my back was a challenge. Then I realized it was on backwards. Oh well, to lazy to fix it I put on my life jacket and harness.

I headed out and made it to the wind line with just one slogging tack. I’m getting better at tacking in low wind on the 140l Fanatic Stingray board. Time to try the 125l Fanatic Sky board…

GoPro  selfie 

The GoPro caught another lucky selfie video. I added the slowmo of the foil…

I did 7 km in the hour, with a fair bit of slogging and only mild pumping efforts. Watching videos on the Fanatic Foil Academy is helping with my pumping and other skills though.

GPS trail. It seemed windier in the southern part…

A few nice wingfoil runs…

The wind did drop during my session
then built to 15 knots at 5pm

It was cool to see the Coast Guard setting the buoys in the distance out past Dead Island. Circumnavigating Dead Island wingfoiling is on my list for this year…

I could see the CG ship in the distance

In other news, saw a moose swimming across the river this morning!

Circumnavigating Germain Island!

It was the 3rd straight day of strong north winds. The forecasts were correct, even the firesmoke.ca prediction of haze due to fires in Quebec. Water was down to 11c with the north wind blowing all the warm water out to the bay. The air was 20c. I wore booties again due to the cold water and the 5/4 suit.

All good! (Thanks Jen for the photo)

I took the Idol 5.6 on the Techno 148 with the 76cm foil. Once out of the wind shadow I was going smoothly. I did a bunch of decent jibes, usually just touching down just as I did the sail flip. When it is warmer I’ll be working on doing duck jibes and trying to foil all the way around.

I worked my way up the west side of Germain island like I normally do on a north wind day but doing more jibes than in previous sessions. The wind was ranging from 5-25 knots. I started going farther north than I ever have before - it gets narrow and I eventually had to tack to make ground. Then I was in an area I’ve never windsurfed before. I fell into the water and so I sent Jen a spot message where I was and that everything is OK…

SPOT message from the farthest
north I’ve ever sailed from the Launch Pad

My GPS trail around Germain Island

The gusty wind started dropping more often and I decided that I’d just slowly head down the east side of Germain. Eventually I wrapped around the north side of the Launch Pad and even got one last little foil on my way to the dock.

A good way to spend 94 minutes of the afternoon and another 14.5k for the season.

Not much foiling in the second half of the session

After 3 days of unusually strong north wind so far this month, lets see if the wind rose which has June 2021 and 2022 data shows more north when 2023 is added? 

 

I’m looking forward to some SW wind sometime….

North wind wingfoil

The north wind continued and actually built overnight. It got cooler too. From 25c air and 17c water yesterday, to 20c air and 13c water as the north wind blew all the warm shore water out into the Bay. I put on my 5/4 wetsuit and tried to decide on what gear to take.

I decided on the 140l Fanatic Stingray board with 99cm Slingshot foil. But instead of a windsurfing sail and windfoiling like yesterday, I pumped up the 4.2 Slingshot wing. With Jen out at the island, I wasn’t as worried about not being able to get back upwind in the gusty wind - a skill I’m still working on. 

I put an old harness line on the wing. I put on my vintage Gastraa harness for the first time in likely 30 years. But then I realized I didn’t have a leash for the wing. Oh well, a windsurfing uphaul attached to a wetsuit ankle Velcro on my wrist did the trick.

Thanks Jen for the photo

Old windsurf harness is great for wingfoiling

Off I went. I got two runs right near the dock. Then it was easy getting downwind and out to the slightly more consistent wind. I got foiling consistently and worked my way upwind in the small channel. Eventually I headed out SW of Germain island but there was way too much wind out there.

So I played in the channel and managed one super fun 9 jibe downwinder. I finally fell after 39 minutes getting a bit to relaxed in the harness. Definitely need some longer lines. Then there started to be longer periods with non foiling wind.

I did try working my way upwind back to the dock but upwind wingfoil slogging is beyond my skill at this point. I landed at the point and walked my gear back in two trips.

I think I’m ready for a smaller board and faster foil. Luckily I have some newer Duotone and Fanatic gear down in Collingwood so it will be time to bring that up here now that we will be spending more time here.

Some good jibes and s turns in there!

Gusty north wind!

Decent runs and jibes

14 km in just over an hour
And then a walk back over the island

12 gusting to 22 knots

Post session smile

Showing off the vintage harness

Foiling in the WARM north wind!

North winds are normally too cold and too gusty to be really fun. Today was remarkable in many ways!

Smiling while foiling past the Launch Pad

Playing with the GoPro

Just my 2nd windfoil selfie video..

Link here for version with slow-mo…

Last video was clew mounted in May 2021…

I like the slow-mo part of the feet and foil in the video above…

The SW wind coming off the bay was light and 19c most of the day. At 6:30pm the wind shifted almost 180 degrees to north and was now coming over warm land so the temperature jumped to 25c.

Not much wind all day - then the shift to north at 6:30

The temperature jumped from 19c to 25c at 6:30

I headed out to the Launch Pad at 7:15 and was on the water by 7:45. With the water at 18c I simply put on my 2mil XCEL Axis short sleeve wetsuit. No booties, no gloves, no hat. Wow, it doesn’t take long to change when it is warm!

I took the 5.6 Idol and the Fanatic Stingray 140 with the 99cm Slingshot foil. I even remembered to take the GoPro. And the Spot so I could send a message back to Jen.

Find me spot GPS signal - this is where I am Jen…

Garmin GPS trail of the session. Lots of decent jibes.

The 99cm slingshot foil is never fast
 But still 10.75 km in 55 minutes

There was a short downwind slog but as soon as I got out of the wind shadow I was foiling. I went all the way up along Germain island, alternating jibes and tacks to get upwind. It wasn’t actually that gusty either. Most of the jibes were smoother than I expected. I headed downwind enjoying the feeling of effortless gliding. I didn’t fall once, even when sailing one handed; videoing and taking photos. I wonder if my wingfoiling will ever be good as my windfoiling so I’ll be able to head upwind on a north wind day? If I think back to 4 years ago when I thought windfoiling jibing would be impossible, well maybe wingfoil upwinders in a gusty north will be possible too?

I got back just as the sun was setting and in time to see two sandhill cranes take off. And my left knee didn’t hurt one bit. What a fantastic and surprising session.

Sun setting over the Launch Pad

The view from inside the Launch Pad

Sand Hill Cranes

Nice sunset

Wow it takes a long time for the sun to set in early June